This invention relates to work tools in general, and, in particular, to a handle which may be easily and quickly mounted on a conventional straight shaft type handle of a yard or garden tool, as well as other implements, to assist in the operation of the tool.
Various types of implements are used in connection with outdoor work in a typical household. Most such work tools consist of a tool portion or head and an elongated member such as a shaft which is formed in a generally cylindrical configuration for easy gripping. Examples of such implements are hoes, rakes, shovels, spades, snow shovels and so on. Most of these tools are used in the moving or lifting of materials such as soil, sand or snow, which, depending on current climatic conditions and composition, vary in their weight, but in general, tend to require substantial effort from an average person to move. Moreover, since the average person is not daily engaged in so handling such materials, the effort used in moving and lifting such material often produces physical strain symptomized by back and shoulder aches. Such strain results because, in moving a work tool such as a snow shovel forward, or lifting the snow with the shovel, it is usually required that one hand of the operator be placed adjacent the distal or upward end of the shaft, while the other hand is placed toward the middle or lower portion of the handle. This positioning is required in order to gain sufficient leverage to lift or move the weight carried by the tool portion. In so placing the hands, however, the weight of the material on the tool portion is transferred through the arms and into the shoulders while the lower back portion of the operator is severely bent. This is, at the least, uncomfortable, and may often produce severe fatigue and strain in the back area and serious medical problems.